Goals require many steps

My mother never went to Europe.She talked about it, dreamed about it – even opened a travel agency at age 55. Never got there. She died 15 years later, never achieving the goal. Oh, she achieved plenty of other goals. But not that one.

I went to Europe for the first time at age 20. One of the things I wanted to do there was study French. It’s a beautiful language. Romantic, expressive, cultural. Never did. Tried, never did. I’ve been to Europe 30 times, France 20 times. Never learned the language. Oh, I know a few hundred words, but can’t converse or understand conversation.

Unmet goals. Got unmet goals?

Personal goals start as thoughts and dreams. Business goals may have those attributes, but often business goals are handed to you by a superior. Sales goals, sales plans, sales numbers, pipelines, funnels and various benchmarks for you to achieve for them.

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You then make a goal to achieve their goal. And many salespeople do. But many (most) do not. Management will refer to those who did not meet their goal as “weak.” That way they don’t have to take any blame or responsibility for their “weak” people.

Meantime, you have your goals. Whatever they are – visit Europe, speak French, go on a vacation, buy a house, get a new car, take off weight, stop smoking, get married, get divorced, have a child, get your child out of the house – you have your own personal goals.

In the shower this morning, I came up with a thought as to why goals are met and unmet. Achieved and not achieved. It centers around the old definition about goals that has always bugged me: “A goal is a dream with a plan.”

That statement is not only wrong, it’s dangerous. It tells you you’ll never achieve your goals unless you make a plan. I don’t get it. I make very few plans, and I achieve tons of goals.

There are lots of goals that are not “dreams.” Did you dream your sales quota? No, you were sent an email or given a sheet of paper. No dream there.

Here are the elements that I believe define and comprise the dream, goal and achievement process:

Thinking. Ideas pop into your head. Write them down.

Observing. Looking closely at the world and your world to see what it is that you really want to be, do and have.

Opportunity. Recognizing it. Seizing it. And taking advantage of it.

Risk tolerance determines outcomes. If you perceive the goal is too “risky,” you’ll pass. If you wanna achieve, you gotta risk.

Coulda, woulda, shoulda. The words of people unwilling to risk. “I coulda had class and been somebody,” said Marlon Brando, in his role as Terry Mallon in “On The Waterfront.”

Desire. Your level of desire will determine the length of time to achievement.

Need. Need is a stronger circumstance than desire. Your need reality will generate your level of achievement action.

Intention. Intentions precede actions. If you don’t intend to, you won’t achieve, even if you want to. What are your intentions?

Dedication. If it’s a business goal, you have to dedicate the time to study and prepare. If it’s a personal goal, you have to dedicate small amounts of time to steadily achieve.

Action for the day or the moment. Plans change, actions are in the now. Take some. An apple a day.

Skill set. Maybe your skills are precluding you from achievement. Maybe you need to study, practice or enlist the aid of others.

Love of what you do, or what it is. Love breeds passion. Passion breeds action. Action breeds achievement.

Visibility. Post your goal where you can see it.

Support and encouragement. When others are cheering you on, and encouraging you to achieve, it’s a mental miracle.

Serendipity. I have defined it before as “God’s way of remaining anonymous.” But it’s more than that. Serendipity is that moment when chance and opportunity collide. And it’s at that moment when you are challenged to grasp it, and make yourself and your loved ones better off. Successful. Fulfilled. You reached for the brass ring, and you caught hold.

If you get what you want, you better be ready. Ready to capitalize, ready to grow, ready to take advantage of, ready to share, and ready to enjoy – but not over-indulge. •

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of 12 best-selling books, including “21.5 Unbreakable Laws of Selling.” He can be reached at salesman@gitomer.com.

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